Supporting arm device for clothes line pulleys



y 1958 A. VAN DEN THOORN 2,841,290

SUPPORTING ARM DEVICE FOR CLOTHES LINE PULLEYS Filed Oct. 25, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 BY am /\I.

' I ATI 'ORNEY July 1, 1958 A. VAN DEN THOORN 2,841,290

SUPPORTING ARM DEVICE FOR CLOTHES LINE PULLEYS Filed Oct. 25, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1N VENTOR Cum? I4. AA ZW ATTORNEY atent 2,841,290 Patented July 1, 1958 SUPPORTING ARM DEVICE FOR CLOTHES LINE ?U1LLEYS Adam van den Thoorn, Bronx, N. Y.

Application October 25, 1955, Serial No. 542,647

6- Claims. (Cl. 211--119.l37)

The present invention relates to pulley line supports, and more particularly to a swinging support for one end of a pulley-supported clothes line.

Such clothes lines are commonly strung between one pulley mounted on the wall of a dwelling house or other household unit, such as an upper story apartment, and another pulley fixed at a distance, as on a pole or other stationary support in a yard. The pulley which is attached to the building is generally secured on to or adjacenta window frame so that access to the line for the purpose of hanging and removing clothes can be had from within the building, through the open window.

Thenecessity of leaning out through the open window when hanging or removing clothes makes use of the ordinary fixed pulley mounting awkward and inconvenient, as Well as dangerous, particularly when the window is at an upper floor of the building.

To overcome these objections, it has been proposed in the prior art to mount the pulley at the window end of the line on a movable device capable of being swung from an outwardly extending normal operative position to an inwardly retracted position, thus carrying the inner end of the line to a point within the building where clothes can be applied and removed by a person standing within the room without the necessity of leaning out through the window.

The present invention. provides an improvement in mountings of this swinging or pivoted arm and bracket type, and theprimary objects'of the invention are to provide a. simple structure of the class indicated which can be made at low cost and mounted readily in any one of all possible positions that may be expected to be encountered under any circumstances in connection with any kind of window frame, whether double hung or casement, i. e., the device can without change of structure be mounted on the left hand side or the right hand side of a window frame, as well as on the sill, or the lintel, or on the side rails of the frame, the differences in mounting location requiring only changes in the assembled relationship of the several parts.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will, it is believed, be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the preferred embodiment which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this application for letters patent, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the pivoted arm secured in outwardly extended position, with the parts in the relationship which they occupy at all normal times, i. e., at all times except when clothes are being hung on the line or are being removed from it;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the arm in the Fig. 1 position;

Fig. 3 is atop plan view of the arm secured in inwardly withdrawn or retracted position, with the parts in the relationship which they occupy when clothes are being hung on the line or are being removed from it;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the arm in the Fig. 3 position;

Fig. 5 is an end elevational view, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a Vertical cross sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 7 is a horizontal cross sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to these drawings, the reference numeral 1 designates generally a clothes line of the continuous or endless type which is trained over a pair of pulleys at the two ends of the line. These include a remote pulley (not shown) which is fixed in position at a distance from a household wall, and another pulley, designated 2, which is mounted at what may be regarded as the inner end of the line, adjacent to the wall 3 of the dwelling unit served by the line. As has been explained, the present invention is concerned with mounting the pulley at this inner end of the line for movement, when desired, to bring the pulley into a room of the dwelling unit, and for return movement back to a normal position outside of the room, where the structure will be relatively concealed from occupants of the room and will cause no interference with normal activties in the room.

For this purpose the device includes an arm generally designated which is pivotally mounted on a bracket generally designated 5 which is secured in, on or adjacent to window opening 6 so that the arm may be swung between an outwardly extended position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and an inwardly projecting position shown in Fig. 4, carrying with it the pulley 2 and working no appreciable effective change in the length of the line 1, so that no objectionable amount of slack or tension is introduced into the line.

The details of the preferred embodiment of the inven-' tion comprise forming the bracket 5 with a base 10 drilled for application of a screw to secure the bracket to a horizontal surface of the window opening 6, such as to the lintel shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Of course, with inversion of the bracket structure the plate 10 could be mounted on the sill of the window.

Projecting right angularly from the base plate 10 is' and lower edges of the extension 12 may be formed with a spaced finger 16, and the free end edges of the extension 12 and the clamping plate 13 are recessed or slotted, as shown at 17, for purposes hereinafter to be explained.

The arm 4 conveniently consists of a length of iron bar of suflicient strength, such as solid bar stock of approximately one-half inch diameter. The length of the arm may be of the order of twenty-four inches more or less, but such length is by no means critical. Both ends of the arm are extended, by bending operations, to provide identical frame members, each of which includes a right angularly directed portion 20, both extending from the sameside of the arm, continuing then right angularly downwardly, as viewed in Fig. 2, to provide a pair of parallel pivot portions 21, each of which is then turned right angularly parallel to the adjacent portion 20, back toward the main body 22 of the arm, to provide a lower portion 23. This is turned upwardly, in parallelism with the adjacent pivot portion 21, to provide a terminal post portion 24 which is appreciably shorter than the pivot portion 21.

f catches or detents. the form of an elongated. plate having eyes. 31 and 32 of the frames, which may be designated generally 25, is V i of substantially rectangular outline, being approximately a'complete square, or a square that would'be complete if the portion 24 were not shortened but same length as the pivot portion 21. a x

Each of the portions 21 is properly regarded as a pivot portion because each'of them is interchangeably useful as constituting the pivot which is journaled in the, socket 14, or as comprising the pivot on-which the pulley'Z is journaled. i

'The device is assembled by disposingthe bracket in themanner shown inthe drawings, or 'in any other manner, so that, the socket 14 will be in upright position and in, such location relative to the window sides and sill asfwill-best. suit the convenience of the user.

were of the rectly on the side members of the window frame, the body 11 may bedrilled with screw holes 26. The socket is opened; as byloosening thebolts 15, and the pivot portion 21 at one end of the arm '4 is inserted, the socket thereupon being closed by tightening the bolts 15. The

pulley 2} is mounted on the other'pivot portion 21, and the line 1 is trained over this pulley and over the co-' operating pulley at the other end of. the line.

With the device thus assembled and mounted, it will be evident that the arm 4 may be swung about the socket 14 from the inwardly projecting position shown in Figs.

' '3 and 4, where the line passeslthrough the inner'frame tive length, so that neither tension nor slack is introduced into the line. 7 V a a In order to position the arm securely in either its retracted or extended position, the device includes a pair These comprise a catch 30in atits opposite ends and'having a notch 33 entering from the end adjacent the eye 32. With the eye .32 slipped overxthe pivot portion 21, which is journaled in the bracket socket 14, and the adjacent notch 33 straddling the edges of the clamping plate 13 and bracket extension 12, the detent 30 will be secured in outstanding position so that it can be tilted up and its eye 31 dropped 7 over the post 24 to set'the arm 4 in outwardly extended position at a predetermined suitable angle with relation to the direction'which the line 1 takes toward the remote pulley,-as bestshownin Fig. l V a Y yIn this' connection it'may be noted that there are special advantages'in so relating the notch 33 to the 7 Since in some cases this may require mounting the bracket di-.

been swung to the inwardly aperture 42 over the upper bracket finger 16, with the detent. finger 43 hooked over the upper edge of'the bracket extension 12, as shown in Figs. 4 and 6. This engagement holds the parts securely in position and prevents undesired swinging of the arm during any operation of hanging or removing clothes. a

An important feature of the device is the interchange ability of the frames 25 of the .arm by which either of them can be related to the socket 14 or the pulley 2.

Thus the device may be mounted at the left'hand side or the right hand side of any window opening with no change except a turning of the arm so that the main body of the arm will lie at one side or the other side of the frames 25, as will be understood.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, it will be noted that no'sash is shown in the window opening 6. The window sash,

' of course, forms no part of the present invention. How

ever, a feature of importance of the invention consists in the versatility of the new bracketor mounting structure, adapting it to'be used with any kind of window sash arrangement, whether double hung or basement, includ-. ing side hinged and center hinged easements. This adaptability may be briefly explained as follows:

'If it be assumed that a double hung window sash is mounted in the window opening-60f Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, it will be evident that neither the bracket'S nor'the arm 4 nor' any of the structure mounted on the arm will. oifer any interference with opening and closing movements of either the upper or lower'sash when the bracket is properly mounted in the opening as shown in the figures. If the window'be assumed to be of the single sash casement type, the bracket 5 can be mounted on the lintel at the free or unhinged side of the sash, and 7 this same location will be used for the bracket if the window be of the double sash-casement type with the two sashes'hinged to a central fixed vertical mullion. If the two sashes be hingedjat their outer sides, so as to swing closed against a central fixed vertical mullion, the' bracket will be mounted on the lintel (or on the sill,- if

preferred) so that the body'll', which of course is quite 1 7 thin as shown in Fig. 3, is aligned in .the plane of the mullion. With the bracket 'in this position none of the structure. offers any interference to opening and closing swinging movements of the sashes, as will be understood,

' and with'the sashes, or either of them, in open position,

axis of the detent that the arm 4 when its extended portion will form an angle of about with the bracket extension 12 and a somewhat smaller angle with the line 1, as best shown in the plan view of'Fig. 1, because at anangle of this order the two runs of line extending from the post 24'to the respective pulleys are well balanced, so that the arm tends naturally to assume this position. -Morever, the armin the preferred position is very easily accessible to a person reaching through the window opening for swinging into the room.

To retract .the arm fromthe Fig; 1 position to that of Fig.. .4, it is necessary only to lift the detent 30 so as to remove theeye 31 from the post 24. This frees the arm for swinging back through the window opening, as

' main body 22 of the arm is passed so thatthe detent hangs from the arm. The free end of the detent 40 is provided with a rectangular aperture 42 and a depending finger 43, 'as best shown in Fig.6. When the arm has 'the arm 4 can be swung-through thewindow opening in the manner. hereinbefore explained.

Not all of the .features and parts of the preferred,

complete embodiment of the invention illustrated by the drawings and described hereinabove need be used in the precise combinations'shown; on the contrary, it is pos-, sible to utilize some fof'the features and combinations without others, wher'e less than all of the advantages of the complete structure are to, be attained; Moreover,

the invention may be'embodied mother and further modified forms, and all such modifications, to the extent that they embody any of'the'principles of the invention as defined by the appended claims are to be deemed.

1 within the scope and purview thereof.

'I claim:

l. A supporting arm device for a pulley line .comprising a bracket adapted to be mounted adjacent a window opening and having a vertical socket, an arm having a main body portion provided atits opposite ends with substantially identical return bent portions forming frames of substantially rectangular outline projecting right-angufl larly from thesame-side of the arm and disposed in parallel vertical planes, each of said frames including a vertical pivot portion spaced sidewise from said main body portion of the arm by an upper portion of the frame, one of said vertical pivot portions being journaled in the socket of the bracket formounting the arms forswing ing movement between a position projected outwardly retracted position of Fig. 4," j the detent 40 may be slid outwardly so as to fit the beyond said window opening and a position retracted through said window opening, and a pulley mounted on the other vertical pivot portion adapted to have looped around it an endless line which extends through the frame at the other end of the main body portion of the arm, the said substantially identical frames being interchangeably adapted for journaling in said socket, with the other frame mounting the pulley, whereby the device is adapted to be mounted in upright position on either side of a window opening.

2. A supporting arm device for a pulley line comprising a bracket adapted to be mounted adjacent a window opening and having a vertical socket, an arm having a main body portion provided at its opposite ends with substantially identical return bent portions forming frames of substantially rectangular outline projecting right-angu larly from the same side of the arm and disposed in parallel vertical planes, each of said frames including a vertical pivot portion spaced sidewise from said main body portion of the arm by an upper portion of the frame and including a post parallel to and shorter than said pivot portion, one of said vertical pivot portions being journaled in the socket of the bracket for mounting the arm for swinging movement between a position projected outwardly beyond said window opening and a position retracted through said window opening, and a pulley mounted on the other vertical pivot portion adapted to have looped around it an endless line which extends through the frame at the other end of the main body portion of the arm and is held in said frame by the post thereof, the said substantially identical frames being interchangeably adapted for journaling in said socket, with the other frame mounting the pulley, whereby the device is adapted to be mounted in upright position on either side of a window opening.

3. A supporting arm device for a pulley line comprising a bracket adapted to be mounted adjacent a window opening and having a vertical socket, an arm having a main body portion provided at its opposite ends with substantially identical return bent portions forming frames of substantially rectangular outline projecting right-angularly from the same side of the arm and disposedin parallel vertical planes, each of said frames including a vertical pivot portion spaced sidewise from said main body portion of the arm by an upper portion of the frame and including a post parallel to and shorter than said pivot portion, one of said vertical pivot portions being journaled in the socket of the bracket for mounting the arm for swinging movement'between a position projected outwardly beyond said window opening and a position retracted through said window opening, a pulley mounted on the other vertical pivot portion adapted to have looped around it an endless line which extends through the frame at the other end of the main body portion of the arm and is held in said frame by the post thereof, and a detent fixed relatively to said bracket and adapted to be detachably engaged with said post to secure said arm in projected position, the said substantially identical frames being interchangeably adapted for journaling in said socket, with the other frame mounting the pulley, whereby the device is adapted to be mounted in upright position on either side of a window opening.

4. The combination claimed in claim 1 including means for securing the arm in position extending outwardly from said window opening comprising a detent having one end fixed to said bracket and its other end removably attached to a portion of that one of the two frames which is adjacent to said bracket.

5. The combination claimed in claim 1 including means for securing the arm in position extending inwardly through said window opening comprising a detent removably connecting said arm to said bracket.

6. The combination claimed in claim 1 including means for securing the arm in position extending outwardly from said window opening comprising a detent having one end fixed to said bracket and its other end removably attached to a portion of that one of the two frames which is adjacent to said bracket and including means for securing the arm in position extending inwardly through said window opening comprising a detent connected to said arm and removably connectable to said bracket.

Carland July 27, 1927 Wilber July 4, 1939 

